Comments on: Just what is a Nimravid, anyway?

By: Nimravidae: Definitely Not Cats « Nimravid’s Weblog

Nimravidae: Definitely Not Cats « Nimravid’s Weblog — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:44:18 +0000

[...] other blogs have covered the Nimravidae, Laelaps in Just what is a Nimravid, anyway? and in passing at “What big teeth you have. . .” (his blog has now moved to Science [...]

By: Steve Mumford

Steve Mumford — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 17:58:05 +0000

Great post! I stumbled on it during a web perambulation of my favorite topic, Pleistocene megafauna. I’ve often contemplated a reproduction skull of Smilodon I own, and wondered how the hell it ate exactly, let alone killed. I suppose only the pre-human world with it’s vast herds of big game could support such specialized carnivores. If you read field scientists on big cats, like Rabinowitz on jaguars, you find that these animals do break teeth in their violent ambushes of prey. How much more vulnerable must the large sabers have been.
Thanks for the specifics on differences between sabertooth families. Keep up the interesting blog.

By: What big teeth you have… « Laelaps

What big teeth you have… « Laelaps — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:30:44 +0000

[...] In fact, huge “sabers” have evolved over-and-over again in the mammalian lineage (see this post and also this post for information about the cat-like ones), including the famous fangs of the [...]

By: I Can Has Slothburger? « microecos

I Can Has Slothburger? « microecos — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:27:51 +0000

[...] wrote a piece on felid and nimravid saber-tooths a while back, and it’s well worth a re-read especially in light of the new [...]

By: Alligators? In the sewers? « Laelaps

Alligators? In the sewers? « Laelaps — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:53:22 +0000

[...] phytosaurs is that they look so much like modern crocodiles even though they are not. Much like nimravids and true saber-toothed cats, phytosaurs and crocodiles share a close common ancestor, but there are some minor (but important) [...]

By: laelaps

laelaps — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:00:54 +0000

You’re quite welcome. There are plenty more that I actually didn’t even mention in this post, and hopefully I’ll eventually write up something else on just how many mammals (and their ancestors) had more fearsome canines.

By: cheerfulmadness

cheerfulmadness — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:54:33 +0000

Very interesting entry. Saber-toothed carnivores have fascinated me since childhood. And thank you for providing a list of books related to them.

By: Nitron

Nitron — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 23:49:43 +0000

Nice entry. BTW, I’ve known about nimravids since I was a kid. YOU LOSE!

By: laelaps

laelaps — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:45:24 +0000

Zach; I think you have something about social markers there too; just because something is used for eating doesn’t mean that’s all there is to it. Looking at baboons might help (they have HUGE fangs). Also, I think nimravids typically have stouter limbs and shorter tails than cats, but I omitted this because the skulls seemed to be the most diagnostic feature and I felt I rambled on long enough as it is.

I am just amazed as instances of convergences like this; even dealing with my example of crocodiles before, for just about as long as there have been tetrapods there has been something filling the “crocodile” niche.

By: Zach Miller

Zach Miller — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:37:36 +0000

Love those saber-toothed cats (and non-cats). I think (although I’m not positive) another difference with nimravids is that they tended toward being plantigrade. I prefer the “common ancestor” hypothesis as to their origins, although we won’t know for sure until we can compare extremely primitive felids to extremely primitive nimravids.

Incidently, Thylacosmilus is one of my favorite examples of convergence. It really is a marsupial saber-toothed cat, which just boggles the mind.

You know, it’s entirely possible that, like primates today, the canines of saber-teeth functioned as social markers as well as weapons. I don’t know if that idea’s ever been put out there, but it’s a thought…